Paddy’s Day in Croker for the club finals could be nearing an end
Traditional GAA fans might be up in arms at a plan to axe the club final’s from March 17 but it seems that the support for such a move is growing among players at least. Last weekend saw Croke Park put forward a number of proposals to try and standardise the the club and inter-county calendar and among the ideas was to shift the club finals from being played in March to December.
Never again would you have to make your way through plastic green flags, majorettes with blue legs from that ‘fresh’ March gale breeze and cans of cider to get to the pinnacle of club hurling and football on Jones’ Road on our national holiday.
The plan is to introduce the changes from 2016 and the head of the GPA thinks there’s merit in the proposal. Speaking at the launch of the WGPA, Dessie Farrell is firmly behind reducing the demands on current club and inter-county players,
‘There’s been some very good ideas put forward, one of them being to bring the club finals and semi finals back into the same calendar year. I think that makes common sense and there’s more work to be done in that regard but it’s a good start.‘
There has been a suggestion that any change will put more pressure on county boards and that especially in dual counties or dual clubs trying to orgainse fixtures may prove impossible.
Previously counties have threatened that they would miss out on the provincial series due to a fixture backlog and an unwillingness to change the club calendar. The GPA chief executive feels that a solution can be found if all parties are willing to discuss the issues.
‘I think it challenges us all to be more creative and imaginative with the fixture scheduling but it can be done. Where there’s will, there’s a way.’
Farrell was in attendance in Smock Alley for the launch of the Women’s Gaelic Player’s Association and is hopeful that the problems which affected the start of of their male counterpart can be avoided almost a decade later,
‘The fact that the men have set up and are established will help in that people understand what player welfare is and player development is all about. Player apathy was an issue we faced in the early days and there was a lot of suspicion and hostility towards it so it was probably a little more difficult for players back then. There will be bumpy days ahead but i think its a really important development for women’s sport.’
